Fantasist's Scroll

Sea ranch.

Call it what you will, but it’s still fish wrangling of some kind. According to this article on Wired News, it’s out there and, apparently, working. These kinds of aquaculture setups have been a staple of science-fiction for as long as I can remember. Harvesting the ocean’s bounty is definately a recurring theme. In any case, it seems to be a reality. A nice, healthy, hopefully profitable, reality.
Of course, this is the first of it’s kind, but it’s an idea who’s time has come. I mean, the ancient Hawai’ians were doing something like this on a smaller scale centuries ago, so it’s about time we caught up! Really, we have to learn to manage our resources so that they’re there for future generations. And, it looks like these folks are on the right track. So, eat your fish!

brought to you by Wizards of the Coast.

Or, is that Hasbro? Well, I can’t keep track anymore, but whoever they are this week, they’ve collected a bunch of desktop backgrounds into a single page. Over the past couple of years, gamers have been treated to a new set of Dungeons and Dragons rules and a whole new set of rule books. As part of that marketing campaign, the current creators of D&D 3E have made some of the art from those books into desktop wallpapers. And, finally, they’ve collected most of them on one page. So, here they are, the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy wallpapers! (Oh, there are some d20 Modern wallpapers, too.)

Enjoy!

Not sure this is really a good thing…

I use MoveableType for this blog as well as the Fiction Blog on this site. I also use it on my other site and my wife uses it, too. So, we have a lot invested in this free software. But, I’m willing to pay for it. Especially if they’re adding features. And, there’s the rub. They’ve updated it, okay, and they added a comment registration feature, which is good, but that’s all they did. Well, they made changes to the API to make it easier to write plug-ins, but in the process, they may, or may not, have broken existing plug-ins. Now, that I’m not willing to pay for… On the other hand, what else is there? Nothing else seems to be as robust or extendable. At least, nothing that I’ve found yet. So, I have an e-mail in to them regarding my particular licensing issue, and we’ll see what they say. I may pay for the commercial version, based on the idea that this site will have commercial content, but we’ll have to wait and see…

UPDATE: Don’t panic! By commerical content, I mean that I might start selling things off the site, not that I’d start to charge for what is already here.

No, not the political kind.

According to this article on Wired News, someone has invented a gun that will not fire for anyone who’s not implanted with the correct chip. It’s the latest idea in “smart guns” designed to protect police officers.
The idea is simple: implant a chip in the officer’s hand that’s linked to the gun. If the scanner in the grip of the gun doesn’t see the chip, it doesn’t fire. Simple. Keeps the officer safer, since a criminal can’t turn his own gun against him. And, of course, it could be a great home safety tool, too. If, that is, you can chip every adult in the house for the same gun. It’d be sort of useless otherwise, at least, in my opinion.

Anyway, it’s an interesting thought, eh?

At least, the end of LA.

And, really, we’ve been waiting for this for a long time, haven’t we? Well, according to this article on Wired News, scientists predict that LA will be hit by a 6.4 magnitude quake on, or about, September 5. Is it “the big one”? Not sure, but we could see LA slip off into the ocean later this year.
(No, I don’t really believe it either, but I can dream, can’t I?)

Okay, ready?

Here’s a website called Googlism that’s a Google based free association engine. You just fill in your name, or a friend’s name, or whatever, and go for it. You’ll see all kinds of free association associations that Google makes with your input.
My wife found this endlessly entertaining. And, I can see how it might be good to generate starting sentences for a writing exercise.

Anyway, it’s Friday and, if you’re week has been anything like mine, you probably could use a creative stimulation break. So, go have fun!

Remote monitoring.

In this case, remote monitoring of biosignals. Human biosignals, to be exact. According to this article on Wired News, NASA has developed a new device to monitor astronaut’s biosignals remotely. Of course, there’s already been talk of the ways this can be used right here on Earth. This would be a great tool for heart patients, for instance. And, I can see how it might be used for things like deep-sea diving and mountain climbing. Anyway, it’s cool to see how space technology spinoffs benefit us in the public sector.

Robots for a better tomorrow?

Well, maybe, maybe not. In either case, considering all the things that can go wrong for humans on a battlefield, I can see why the military might be interested in having a robot fight in place of people. And, according to this article on Wired News, they may just be headed that direction. Based on the article I can easily picture something like this replacing current armored divisions. Much safer for humans, but still giving the heavy fire-support that troops need.
Personally, I’m not sure I’d want to follow Sargent “Chips” into battle, but, then again, I’m not sure I’m all that cut out for military life anyway. And, I wonder, too, how long before we get to completely robotic armies. And, how long after that before they get out of control….